SCBA cylinders service life extension

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I'm glad someone actually starting to read the DOT and NFPA law. It shouldn't even be an issue with air gunners. The law states that after 15 years the tanks will be decommissioned for firefighter use. It seems that all the paintball, hydro places and other entities that's not connected to firefighting and emergency response just took for granted the law applied to them and said after15 years the tanks cannot be used. I've talked to different firefighters that said they used out of lifecycle tanks for training they just did not respond to calls with them.
 
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Not to argue with blackdiesel, I fully understand where he is coming from on this but I think we are forgetting a very important point. The SCBA tanks are all built under the same Top level DOT specifications. Firefighters, Emergency service, Mining, and any other industry that wants to use High Pressure vessels for providing pressurized gasses in the United states fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation (DOT). We airgunners, paintball CF tank users are all under the jurisdiction of applicable laws regarding the certification and testing of High pressure carbon fiber tanks. 5 year hydro static testing still applies, and once the 15 year life span has been reached the cylinders still have to pass a Modal Acoustic Emission (MAE) every 5 years for a maximum lifespan not to exceed 30 years.

Without digging into this further at this time it might be safe to say that this will only apply to certain CF tanks and not all CF tanks. In other words only certain tanks may be eligible for the lifetime expansion under DOT-SP 16320. Good news, yes! But be vigilant about the tanks you buy and think they can be extended in lifespan. You might get stung. I only say this because I have had to deal with the DOT specification of HP Aluminum and Steel scuba tanks for years. I actually have one tank in my collection that can never be filled again or Hydro statically tested due to a DOT ruling reversing the lifetime granted DOT spec that it was built to. They found a few years later that the particular aluminum alloy used to make the tank was failing prematurely.

So be safe and keep shooting! Hope this helps some of us to at least be vigilant about what we are really dealing with when the DOT is involved.
 
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Still not getting it... I read the entire dot application and it doesn't seem clear,.. What tanks qualify and how do we know if and how it affects our tanks? For instance, I have several carbon fiber SCBA tanks made by Worthington Industries in Pomona CA. Manufactured between 2011-2013. Would those tanks fall into this program or is it strictly fire departments and such?
 
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"Long_Ranger"I know of guys who own compressors and keep filling their 15+ years tanks. Any legislation agains that? If not, I may do it myself.
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The law is aimed at protecting firemen and people who subject the tanks to high stress situations. This guy is a fireman. I began using SCBA tanks after talking to him. I have a compressor and will use my tanks past the DOT 15 year. For a different perspective, there's no law governing CF tanks anywhere but the US. Have you ever heard of a CF tank causing damage anywhere? Aluminum scuba tanks are different because of the way they are built. 

 
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I found those links pretty interesting. I passed the info on to the officer in charge of air packs at my fire dept. He also found it interesting and passed on this little tidbit of info back to me...

"I have been following a company that uses x-rays in place of hydro testing. They have been approved by DOT to extend the life indefinitely until a weak spot is identified. That process has yet to be NFPA approved but they are getting closer."
No mention of the name of this company. But, the word "indefinitely" caught my attention.

I completely agree that airgunners are MUCH nicer to their bottles than fire dept. personnel are and that those bottles could last much longer than NFPA says they can. What do we expose them to? Heat from sitting in the sun in a hot car, possible chemicals from an oops while cleaning our rifle, and the standard stresses of filling and draining, maybe an oops of dropping them while carrying/moving them. We baby these things. For us, it's more a question of how long it takes for the materials used in the construction process to break down and weaken.
Tom
 
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"Texan"The paintball shop that fills mine has told me that in Europe they are good for 30 years and fill them ( the Omega tanks) to a higher pressure. More Government overreaching
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I wouldn't say it's government overreaching. The laws are aimed at protecting firefighters and emergency personnel who subject their tanks to very high stress environment. The paintball shops and other people that fill them should get clarity on whether they are subject to the law or not.
 
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UPDATE, From the Lt., 
"It actually can extend the bottle life an additional 15 years, not necessarily indefinitely. They should receive their final DOT certification this week."

I have the contact info but, would rather not post it publicly. I'll give them a call when I get back from vacation to get the scoop (unless someone wants to PM me and post up a Q&A for all of us.)

Tom 
 
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Look at Digital Wave Corporation web page under MOdal Acoustic Emission MAE and you will find more. This technology is based in broadband acoustics and not X-ray(RT) like someone said above. The DOT does not allow RT examination for this. DWC holds the DOT special permit and have the RIN approval in place.

www.digitalwavecorp.com

they are currently providing this service for the Navy and Civilian fire departments.
 
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Digital Wave will life extend your end of life SCBA for $250 + return shipping. They will need to remove valve, perform CGA visual inspection, MAE life extension test, relabel, will add new fiberglass sacrificial protective layer, reinstall valve and ship back. This service is only for carbon composite vessels so double check the SP number before you send. 

Contact RYan Pennock at Digital Wave: [email protected]
 
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Noob here that doesnt know much about tanks or anything of that sort. I went to the website to see what the criteria is but still have no clue as to what i must look at on a used expired bottle to qualify it for this extension. Ill attach a picture and see if any of you can help me decipher what all the markings on the plate mean. Thanks in adavnce!
 
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"Patpat7"
1576859a6b6a8607db838f369b315a4a.jpg
Noob here that doesnt know much about tanks or anything of that sort. I went to the website to see what the criteria is but still have no clue as to what i must look at on a used expired bottle to qualify it for this extension. Ill attach a picture and see if any of you can help me decipher what all the markings on the plate mean. Thanks in adavnce!
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Patpat7 - yes this one is applicable. You will see in the upper left corner "DOT E-11194". This is the Special Permit Exemption number that this cylinder was built to by Carleton. On the digital wave life extension page you will see this SP number listed.

Other things to look at on this label is that this is a 4500 psi cylinder. There are also 2216 psi cylinders out there so make sure you check pressure for your application. It was originally manufactured "11 of 2001". So this cylinder is past its end of life at 15 years. It can be life extended for use through 10 of 2031. This is 30 years of use from original manufacture date.

Any cylinder that is life extended will need to be MAE tested again at 5 and 10 years from life extension date. This would be similar to a hydro requalification test. Just that it is done via MAE instead.
 
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"Marks4runr"
"Patpat7"
1576859a6b6a8607db838f369b315a4a.jpg
Noob here that doesnt know much about tanks or anything of that sort. I went to the website to see what the criteria is but still have no clue as to what i must look at on a used expired bottle to qualify it for this extension. Ill attach a picture and see if any of you can help me decipher what all the markings on the plate mean. Thanks in adavnce!
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Patpat7 - yes this one is applicable. You will see in the upper left corner "DOT E-11194". This is the Special Permit Exemption number that this cylinder was built to by Carleton. On the digital wave life extension page you will see this SP number listed.

Other things to look at on this label is that this is a 4500 psi cylinder. There are also 2216 psi cylinders out there so make sure you check pressure for your application. It was originally manufactured "11 of 2001". So this cylinder is past its end of life at 15 years. It can be life extended for use through 10 of 2031. This is 30 years of use from original manufacture date.

Any cylinder that is life extended will need to be MAE tested again at 5 and 10 years from life extension date. This would be similar to a hydro requalification test. Just that it is done via MAE instead.
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Thanks alot, i thoght inhad to specifically look for "sp11194" and not just the number. Once avain thank you for your help.
 
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